University of Washington
Arizona
Huskies Take Down Wildcats In Tucson
September 23, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2011
TUCSON, Ariz. - In its first Pac-12 road test of the season, the fourth-ranked Husky volleyball team came through with a straight set victory over a talented Arizona squad in front of 1,230 fans at the McKale Center. Washington (10-1, 2-1 Pac-12) pulled out a tight first set, 27-25, and then increased the pressure in the next two sets, closing with 25-18 and 25-10 victories. Freshman Krista Vansant had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs, while hitting .500 for the night.
Tucson was a tough first stop for a young UW squad, and Head Coach Jim McLaughlin said "there were some nerves" in the first set, "But we stabilized and played well from about the middle of set two." The Huskies lost in four sets at Arizona a year ago, and while the Wildcats (9-3, 1-2 Pac-12) are outside of the Top-25, they have been receiving votes all season.
Vansant had 13 kills and just one error on 24 swings. Junior Kylin Muñoz and freshman Summer Ross each added eight kills, and senior Lauren Barfield had six kills and three blocks. Senior setter Evan Sanders had a double-double of her own with 34 assists and 10 digs, as the Huskies hit .288 for the match and held Arizona to .139. Sophomore Jenna Orlandini had a big night as well with 17 digs. Service aces were a key stat, as UW tallied seven and were aced just once by the Wildcats.
"We kept the pressure on them and this was a good win for us," said McLaughlin. "I'd like to see us start a little faster, but we served and passed well and we hit well in transition."
Arizona took the first two points of the match before Vansant registered her first kill to get UW on the board. The Wildcats took a three-point lead, but the Huskies then reeled off a five-point run on Vansant's serve to take a 9-7 advantage and force an Arizona timeout. Barfield had two blocks during the stretch, one with Ross and another with Muñoz, and Vansant added an ace. But Arizona came back to retake the lead at 13-12, until Rowland's slide shot hit the deck, and she then notched her first ace of the season for a 14-13 lead. The lead tiled back to UA, but the Huskies responded with a four-point run started by a Ross kill and followed by two from Muñoz and an Arizona error for a 19-16 edge and the last Arizona timeout. Another Muñoz swing made it 23-20 Dawgs, but Arizona roared back with four straight to reach set point first. Vansant saved it with a kill around the block, and then she capped a long rally with a tip down for a 25-24 lead and UW's first set point. Courtney Karst saved it for Arizona with a kill, but Barfield then stepped up in the middle for her first finish and another chance, which Vansant took advantage of, finding the back line for another kill to take the set, 27-25. The Husky outsides--Vansant, Ross, and Muñoz--combined for 15 kills in the set and made just one error as UW hit .312 and survived a .333 effort from UA.
In set two, consecutive kills by Muñoz opened up a 6-3 lead for the Huskies and Arizona took time. The Wildcats answered with three-straight out of the timeout to tie it up, and continued the run all the way to a 10-7 lead when it was UW which needed timeout. Again, the break paid off, as this time the Huskies scored three straight on a Ross kill, a block by Sanders and Rowland, and an ace from Ross to make it 10 apiece. Kills from Sanders and Vansant got the Huskies back in front. Vansant got a solo block on UA senior Cursty Jackson for a 15-12 edge, but Arizona made another rally to tie it at 16-16. Sanders found Vansant again to keep the lead, and Barfield then got a solo stuff against Karst. A Ross kill followed by a UA miscue made it 20-17 Dawgs and Arizona needed time. After the break Arizona made four consecutive attack errors, though two were forced on them by the Husky block, with Rowland in on each one. Rowland then finished off the set, 25-18, with a kill set by Sanders. Five blocks in the set helped the Huskies hold Arizona to just .027 on offense in the set, while UW hit .226.
After intermission, Washington refused to let Arizona entertain any thoughts of a comeback, as they jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 8-1 in the third set, forcing Arizona to call both of its timeouts. Junior Kelly Holford was on serve early, and assisted on Vansant's second kill of the set. Rowland had another ace in the run as well. At 8-3, Washington went on another 5-0 run with Sanders serving. Barfield had two kills in the run, and Ross added another, before a Sanders ace made it 13-3. Arizona would not get closer than nine points for the remainder of the set. Sanders found Barfield twice more, as she had four of her six kills in the third set alone. The Huskies had one more late run in them, and again it was Rowland, who entered the service rotation for the first time just last week, who was at the line for the run. She notched her third ace, her most since 2009, and Vansant had two more kills plus the first of the night for junior Kelcey Dunaway as part of a five-point run that made it 23-9. Orlandini's pass turned into a set for Sanders as she put down her third kill, and on match point Sanders found Ross for the finish at 25-10. Just as in the first set, the Huskies hit .312, but this time Arizona couldn't keep up, hitting .000 with six kills and six errors. Vansant had four kills and six digs in the final frame.
Washington will have a day off Saturday in Tempe as it prepares to face Arizona State on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Arena. First serve for that match is set for 1 p.m.
